..so where is the new PurpleCoo ?

We have all been beavering away in the garden sheds in between all our other duties to build a new and better web site for us all, trips to BnQ for tins of colourful jpegs, timber planks 600 pixels wide x 400 megabits long and screws compliant with web code html version W0192887344.009 (they are so hard to find !). We have drafted in the expertise of architect Penguin P who is doing a great job trying to keep up with all the ideas we throw at him.

So, the new site will have a main common room posting area to replace the existing CCW post/chat/common room page and also the 'I have blogged' page. There is one aspect that we are not sure how will work, Today we all have our own blogspot page which folk can keep to save moving house again, or have their own new wizzy pad on the new site, or have both ! We want to have the benefit of one big building, but are aware that some might rather stay in their blog home that they have decorated and become settled in and might not wish to move everything - again.

Also planned is a Forum for threaded posts, photo gallery, and some skool notice boards for all sorts of fascinating info.

Some bits will be here at the opening and some will be finished on when the other builders get their van back out the ditch and sober up.

Please be patient, we wanted to let the existing site settle to see how the whole place works but feel the time is right to give the old haunt a decent facelift.

Ideas are always welcome but bear in mind resources are limited, if we do not act on ideas its more probable that we are busy building other bits or have run out of those damn web screws and the last new extension has just fallen down....again ! We are also looking for some form of backing or sponsorship to give the old place a decent future, but do not want to be controlled by a 'focused' commercially driven corporate enterprise.

Timescale - don't be daft, when was a building extension ever done on time.."sorry guv, the weather in Africa was the wrong sort of rain for the plumber to drive in" or "yeah, I know a said a week but didn't say which one, honestly, I do have 15 other unfinished jobs to laugh..sorry, worry about"

The architect says we should be getting the keys to take a look round in a week or so, we will keep you posted.

what I love about this new job is the diversity...

One day having fun with a great family, 2 days later being all creative and arty outdoors on a windy shore with a young lass wanting some model portfolio pics. For someone who has only been modeling for a few weeks she was great - planning a second shoot already.

Anyway in the midst of all this rather serious and creative stuff was an unexpacted side show, 2 lasses were hitting the bottle big time (and probably other mood enhancers) - right were we wanted to soot - no problem, we just toddle off to our other location then they will be gone when we get back - WRONG - there they are, now totally out of it but were crashed out round behind a wall so just ignore them. So, we start shooting and all sorts of coastguards, medics and then the police turn up following reports of drunks falling off castle walls ???? - but like tru pro's we just carried on while the poor brave services tried to move them on to the body menders (I would have left them get on with it, wot a waste of taxpayers money but don't get me started) - this has to be the most bizarre photo shoot I have ever done.
Now, in this pic are 2 lases in the archway - no competition needed to guess who was the model !

..and they call this work !

Did family photo shoot in the week but this time with a difference - actually advertised for a willing ..dare I say gunea pig family to spend half a day rather than cramming fun frollicks and creativity into a 1hour studio session... needless to day I had a laugh, so did the kids.. and the parents - thanks guys. The best bit was getting the kids to jump around and do all the things they are not normally allowed to do at home but the grown ups were so cool about it and from what they have seen love the pics so a small sacrifice... phew, got away with it again - they havnt seen the full set of pics yet so until then only a publishing a wee taster - wouldn't be fair now would it...

Dogs at play...

..can I recomend a good camera ??

..probably yes but just to play the politician I will answer a question with a question... how much do you want to spend and what sort of use will it be for ?..(ok, thats 2 questions, politicians never do give you all the facts). There ar 3 types of camera (assuming digital), Compact, slr type and full slr's.
For taking good photos or being creative I would personally recommend a Digi SLR, will be a tad more cash and heavier than a compact but maybe worth the extra.
In the middle are semi slr's (bridge cameras) like the Fuji Finepix6000 / Nikon Coolpix 8700 / Sony DCS-H9, a bit smaller and lighter than an slr, pic quality still excellent but uses a small lcd screen to view rather than real optics. These have fixed lenses whereas slrs' have more choices of lenses than money allows so extends the life for change of photo style - these cost about £300 upwards (sorry, prices uk biased) but are excellent
Slr's - entry level you can get a Nikon D40 / Canon 400D for about £500 inc lens, moving up you can get a Nikon D80 or D200, Canon 20D / 5D or a Fuji S5Pro - all really pro quality but maybe without the tank style build quality of the top end toys (popular with pros as a backup/second camera).
So what make is best - really nothing in it today, Nikon and Canon seem to rule the roost but Fuji, Olympus and Sony etc all more than worthy as are Samsung, panasonic etc etc etc, its really down to personal taste.
Confused ?? well to make things worse take a look at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp
for a side-by-side of almost every camera on sale today (and many that are now discontinued).
What features are wrth considering ?
A good solid easy to handle camera is best, stuff like movie recording is bit of a toy but if its got it great. Hot shoe for a camera top flash is a good idea and screw hole for tripod mount essential!. In Compacts and semi slr forget 'Digital zoom' figures, this is a marketing conn, only look at optical zoom. In short cameras with less domestic features the more likely to be aimed at enthusiasts and semi pro use.

Finally that horrible ..how many megapixels do I need question...yuk!! well in truth not as many as you would think. A 6Mp camera can produce fantastic quality prints up to and beyond A3 - trust me ! (4 mp is about the lowest I would suggest), what really counts is the lens quality as a 6mp slr with an average lens is likely to produce better pics than a 12mp compact ! Also range of capture options like RAW and TIFF, RAW is king, worth having in favour of a bucket full of user settings and sad blingy type features that you never use.

Hope this helps..

Where in the world ..??

Our view a couple of weeks ago... in the UK....Scotland....Highlands...Ben Nevis.... at the summit on one fantastic spring day.
I had this crazy notion to walk.climb/drag myself up the 3 peaks, thats Snowdon (highest peak in Wales), then Scaffel (biggest lump of rock in England), then finished off with Ben Nevis ('The Ben' as its affectionately know up 'ere).
Problem was I told my son so he held me to it but am real glad he did - most nutters do all 3 within 24 hours but we had more sense and did it within 3 days - awsome !!

hmm.. almost forgot I had my own blog page...

... set this up to play and test stuff before breaking something that gets hit by the masses. As for the lovable Arnie (aka, that bloody pest, the runt, GILL's DOG....) we have had a hate hate relationship for years so taking the stupid little things picture is no more than therapy - honest...!!